A/N: Sorry for the delay in publishing. Besides job hunting, I have been occupied with writing original work. But I hope this was worth the wait!
Bran felt Hodor push his sled as he, Meera, and Jojen skirted past the abandoned gates of Castle Black. Well, not exactly abandoned as they found several of the Free Folk manning the walls but let them through since they did not look like northerners, helped by the fact that Meera and Jojen were both crannogmen and thus not exactly part of the northerners in the traditional sense anyways.
However, they had to stop at Castle Black before continuing on and they could all tell that much had changed in the North since they went over the Wall. Leaf and the last of the other Children of the Forest in the Far North would join then soon, but they preferred to be concealed to even the wildlings since all of mankind participated in their destruction despite the alliance made between them to fight against the Long Night. Old grudges do not easily go away, Bran thought as he realized a hard truth.
"You come from far north, children?" one of the Free Folk who was left at Castle Black asked them.
"Yes," Meera spoke for them. "We got lost in a blizzard and we could not find out families until long after they came south. We were thinking that they would be here following the King Beyond the Wall."
"Well, lass, he's long gone from here. He is far south." The Free Folk pointed in the direction ahead. "And you are lucky, all of you. Today is the last day before we have to close the gates for good. We do not want them ice men having an easy way in after us."
"What about the others?" Meera asked with concern. "I am sure there are more who just need more time to cross the Wall."
"I do not think so," the Free Folk shook his head. "And if there are, they should have followed Mance Rayder when they had the chance. Let the ice men have the stragglers for all we care."
Seeing that the Free Folk were not going to be persuaded otherwise, Bran and Meera shared a glance with each other. The Wall was not some ice structure erected out of nowhere. It had magical properties and once that gate was close, nothing would be able to penetrate through, unless a supernatural event occurred to allow it so. It will come eventually.
As the gates of Castle Black creaked to a close, Bran could only hope that Leaf and the others would have a way to get around the Wall. He could not imagine doing what needed to be done next without them.
The Free Folk left at Castle Black were kind enough to feed them some venison and pour them some water.
"Where will you go? I am sure your family is with Mance Rayder's camp," the Free Folk man said while he gave them their food, which they eagerly took. Summer was busy eating what was left of the freshly-killed deer, which the Free Folk man ignored to Bran's amazement.
"We might try to find them in the swamps," Jojen said while he chewed. "Our mother always wanted to go to someplace with a lot of water."
The Free Folk man chuckled. "Your mother chose well. Water is getting scarce around here and we and it is quite tiring to get the snow from around this blasted castle and melt it down to make sure that nothing dirty would enter our bellies. And we are almost out of what the southerners call ale, so just one less thing to make our stay here comfortable."
"Will you be joining Mance Rayder soon?" Bran asked while he petted Summer's head.
The Free Folk man shook his head. "No. Someone has to stay here and keep watch, now that the Night's Watch is very much over. Also, not really one for the warmth that I would expect in the south, although the Gift around her does provide the occasional cow here and there."
Bran found the man quite candid, which he found refreshing. What was more, he did not seem too threatening.
"Regarding your big man," the Free Folk man pointed at Hodor. "Is he right in the head? He just keeps saying the same word over and over again."
Bran shrugged. "He has been like that for as long as I could remember. I never really asked why he became like that."
The Free Folk man waved dismissively. "And neither will I. Live north of the Wall long enough, you will see all kinds of things, things that you think do not make sense. Then again, nothing in the world that I have seen makes sense at all."
You have no idea how right you are, Bran thought. Despite having the gift of seeing glimpses into what could become, some of the things he saw also did not make sense. Like when he saw his ancestor become the very enemy of all mankind or when Bloodraven revealed the truth of what his father did at the Tower of Joy.
"But if I may, that is a mighty big wolf you got there," the Free Folk man gestured to Summer. "Where did you get it?"
Bran had to be careful. While he found the Free Folk man kind enough, he could not trust the man so easily as to tell him the whole story. "My father found him and he gave him to me to raise. He has been by my side ever since."
The Free Folk man smiled warmly. "Your father seems like a great man. A big wolf seems more precious than a fine horse, especially since horses are more common even in these parts. And I can tell, that wolf you have there looks to be one who will tear apart anyone who tries to hurt you. A rare creature that also has a use. Cannot say that it is quite special."
Bran grinned because for all that he had seen his father do, he still loved him and remained sad whenever he thought about he was so unjustly killed by Joffrey. And Summer was indeed a great gift that his father had granted onto him, even though he had to do most of the raising by himself.
"But you do know that things are not safe for a group of children and a large man not right in the head to be travelling alone in the north, especially with what is happening. Right?" the Free Folk man asked suddenly.
Bran knew more of the details than the Free Folk man did, but he could not let him know that. "We know that there is a lot of fighting going on and that many people are trying to get control of the entire North."
"Well, boy, you do not know the details then," the Free Folk man said. "We got the Boltons fighting from that great castle called Winterfell, we got Mance Rayder fighting against him, and we got the Stark girl, I cannot remember her name, fighting to take back the entire land for her family."
Bran bobbed his head, as he did hear Sansa was leading a Vale army to fight against the Boltons. But because of Ramsay Bolton, fighting took place between the Valemen and the Free Folk.
"It is a three-way fight, children, and nobody will win," the Free Folk man stated. "The way things are, we either have to fight until one of us is still standing or learn to live together. The latter will never happen, considering the southerners tried to kill wildlings for as long as anyone could remember."
"Perhaps things will change finally," Meera interjected. "All of us are on the same side of the Wall and there can be no going back to the way things were."
"If only more thought like you," the Free Folk man pointed at her approvingly. "But us men… we do not forget grudges and we will always find ways to kill each other. That is just how it is."
"But does it have to be that way?"
The Free Folk man sighed. "That is a question that I cannot answer. After all, I am just a simple man just trying to survive in the cold, which is about to get colder when winter comes. Perhaps someone will fix all of this, or some people, but I probably will not be around to see all that happen."
One of the other Free Folk approached the man. "Hey. We got movement, not far from here."
"What is it?" the Free Folk man asked, seeing the urgency in his face.
"Southerners are passing by and they are carrying banners. It has a black bear on it."
House Mormont? What are they doing here? From what Bran had last heard of them, they refused to bend the knee to House Bolton and were actively resisting them. As they were not the only northern house to do so, that severely cut the manpower that the Boltons could call upon to fight for them.
"If they are approaching this castle, we will be ready to fight them. But if they are just passing by, let them go."
"All right." The man went to prepare the few other Free Folk who remained at Castle Black.
"Perhaps we can speak to them," Jojen said.
"Why would they listen to us Free Folk? As far as the bears are concerned, we are the enemy."
Bran shared looks with Meera, Jojen, and Hodor. Their look told them all on what they needed to do. "I must apologize, for we have not been completely honest with you."
"How so?" the Free Folk man put down the plate that had his venison.
Bran cleared his throat. "It is true that we have family already in the south, but they have been there for a long time. It is nice to meet you, for I am Brandon of House Stark, son of Eddard Stark. This here is Meera and Jojen Reed, children of Lord Reed, and this is Hodor, who I knew since Winterfell."
The Free Folk crossed his arms, looking at them with curious eyes. He then eyed Summer. "So that wolf… not a normal wolf, huh?"
"No, Summer is a direwolf," Jojen corrected him. "And the direwolf is the symbol of House Stark."
The Free Folk man let out a short breath before shrugging. "As I said, I have seen a lot of things in the north of the Wall, so what you said is not really surprising. But the question I have to ask is… will the bear people believe you?"
Bran nodded. "If I remember correctly, they are led by Lyanna Mormont. She will be very easy to persuade."
The Free Folk man nodded. "As you say. Just make sure that we do not have to fight."
"Worry not. It will not happen."
As the party watched from the ramparts, they saw bear banners fluttering the wind. But either House Mormont had more men than Bran had remembered or they were not alone, for the force that slowly came into view numbered in the thousands. It was not as grand of a host as Robb commanded when they marched south of the Neck, but it was large enough to make him wonder what the Mormonts were doing all the way out in the far north.
And Bran was worried, for while he was sure that Lyanna Mormont would not harm a Stark, he had no control over how they would behave with the Free Folk already in Castle Black. Considering the bad blood between the inhabitants of Bear Island and the Free Folk, he feared that being a Stark would not be enough to stop the Mormonts from trying to kill the Free Folk man who fed them and was kind enough to let them know what was happening.
He wished that he had Bloodraven by his side right now, or could call upon his greensight, since he had to know what he could say in order to stop the Mormonts and the Free Folk from coming to blows.
Old gods… whatever I have to say, let it be enough, Bran thought to himself as more of the Mormont banners arrived in front of Castle Black.
Rhaenys sparred with Daeron in a private space in the pyramid of Meereen, her using a wooden staff while he used a practice sword. The intent was not to hurt each other but rather to see how their styles were like. Rhaenys, in her curiosity, wanted to know what her half-brother was like as a warrior since all of the Targaryens worth their fire had to know how to fight. Let us see if he is anything like our father, she thought while she could vaguely recall her father being graceful with the sword.
After their little argument and her breaking down in front of their aunt Daenerys, Rhaenys wanted to know the last of her blood more. She could not say that she was very good at engaging in small talk, as the ones who raised her in Lys never talked to her at all and only used words in order to communicate their commands and their many abuses to be hurled at her. Consequently, she grew up without anyone to call as her friends and she focused all of her energies on fighting and surviving, all the while trying to figure out how to wreak her vengeance on her abusers. While she had Varys to thank for making her into one capable with defending herself, all of that was swept away when she found out the truth behind the one calling himself Aegon and she was going to make sure that Varys would die a most painful death. I might have Rhaegel just put fire on him and let him burn. That way, all of the fat on his body will burn like oil.
Seeing her brother and their aunt holding their arms tightly and then hearing their moans of passion behind closed doors, Rhaenys could not help but shake her head in light amusement. They really are my blood, as my brother has no trouble in bedding our aunt. She honestly expected nothing less, as incest was something that allowed the Targaryens to keep the purity of their dragonblood and thus the one thing that allowed them to ride dragons in the first place. But over the course of several generations, it was diluted for the sake of political expediency and their ancestor Aegon the Fifth of His Name botched possibly their best chance of bringing dragons back into the world. Aegon the Fifth tried, but he never should have showed that he could easily cave in to pressure in the first place.
But as she already had words with her aunt, Rhaenys wanted to have some private time with her brother. Looking closer at him, she nodded, as his cheekbones and the shape of his eyes definitely came from their father, although the raven black hair and his grey eyes certainly made her wonder how that came to be in the first place. He is the only one in our family to not have the Valyrian traits prominent, so someone must have intervened to prevent him from being easily detectable.
But Daeron carried himself with confidence and acted like a king, although whether he could maneuver through the many machinations that others made and would make in the future was yet to be seen. Still, Rhaenys saw that he could handle himself well with weapons. Equipped with two Valyrian steel blades, the bastard sword known as Longclaw and their family heirloom Dark Sister, he carried himself with a style that exhibited grace and power at the same time. He also chose to hold the sword with two hands instead of one, saying that the swordmasters in Yi-Ti told him that sword stances always require the wielder to hold with two hands so as to maintain power potential and also keep the wielder from doing anything rash. The reason behind that was because using a sword with only one hand led to sloppy form and thus allowing for more uncontrollable behavior, an example being a swordsman who got drunk and used his blade in one hand while holding his drink in another while hacking away innocent bystanders. Interesting philosophy, that one.
And even without swords, Daeron could handle himself well. Under the guidance of the blind master Hoon Ti, he had endurance and power behind all of his punches and kicks. But there was one scene that she found quite laughable. It was when Hoon Ti had him practice what was called a horse stance, with Hoon Ti putting a rock on the top of his head and saying, "You might be a royal, but you must remember that you must taste bitter before sweet. Keep growing your roots." To Rhaenys, how Daeron did the horse stance and how his face was straining made it look like he was about to take a huge dump. All right, I think Hoon Ti is just making him do that just to play around with him.
Surprisingly for her, Daenerys was also not bad in a fight. Sure, she did not have the form that Daeron had or the power that Hoon Ti and other Yi-Tish fighters possessed, but with a couple of years, she would be able to contend with them. However, Hoon Ti emphasized that she practiced throwing hard strikes both with her practice swords and her limbs, as he said that it was easy for women fighters to fight with quick forms and that neglected their overall physical strength. She caught a peek into how he trained her, which was after she conferred with Tyrion Lannister and the others. He made her go into a static position on the ground, using only her knuckles and her toes to keep her body from the floor. Just to make things harder for her, he put bricks on her back, making her strain and her limbs wobble. "You might be a woman, but that does not mean that I will go easy on you. But to make the process quicker for me, you will learn to brawl like a man and throw hard strikes like a drunkard."
"Like a drunkard?" Daenerys grunted while her arms were really shaking while she gritted her teeth from how much pain her knuckles felt from being pressed against the floor.
"There is actually a fighting style that was developed after a certain monk witnessed how a drunkard fought," Hoon Ti said. "It relies on feinting, deception, dodging, and then twisting the weak areas of the body. Of course, you would only do this if you are drunk, but I think that will be the best style for you, as it fits your rather small stature and also gives you a reason to have a brawler's strength."
Daenerys groaned in annoyance. "I think you are doing this because you like seeing me in pain."
Hoon Ti leaned his head down close to her. "Who said that that was the only reason?"
Rhaenys chuckled quietly and humorlessly at the sight. A teacher with a sadistic sense of humor… how interesting.
After Daeron finished conferring with the Yi-Tish officers, Rhaenys approached him. "I would like to spar with you."
He was a little taken aback. "Right now?"
"Yes, now."
"Rhaenys, I have duties to attend to."
"Are they more important than your sister?"
Daeron blinked. "This is unexpected, Rhaenys—"
"Do you have time to spar right now?" she pressed.
Without asking another question, Daeron simply acquiesced and got himself into his sparring garments, which consisted of a Yi-Tish robe and sandals, which showed his worldly tastes. He got his practice sword, which resembled one of the Yi-Tish swords she had been seeing but it was made of solid wood.
Rhaenys made the first strike, thrusting her shaft to him. Daeron responded by jumping backwards and hitting it away with his practice sword. While she had a good grip on her shaft, she was startled by how strong his strike was, as her practice spear collided with the ground. But she was almost caught off guard by how her brother did not allow her one moment of respite, as he used the momentary distraction to move in and swing at Rhaenys.
She responded quickly by ducking and spinning around before she tried to hit him, but he was also able to avoid the strike bending his stomach to the back. However, her shaft passed through the robes, so it was a near hit. Her brother rebounded by quickly raising the practice sword and trying to attack from above, but Rhaenys raised her shaft and blocked the strike. The force was enough to make her arms slightly give in to the point where the shaft almost touched her forehead, but she pushed it away and managed to put some space between them.
While Daeron got into his stance again, Rhaenys got into hers by pointed her shaft almost downwards. In just a few moments, she was able to get a good sense of what her brother's fighting style was. It had power, it had agility, and it showed aggressiveness, all of which would overcome any other fighter given time. However, Rhaenys was not any other fighter and one of the few things that she got from her Dornish teacher outside of the training time was the lesson to always observe one's style to look for weaknesses. And that was when she got it. When I thrusted, he responded. He must be one of those types who will respond well when attacked.
But while she was thinking of other ways to overcome him, Daeron brought his front leg back to his other leg before snapping off from his starting point to move rapidly to her. Rhaenys' felt her eyes widen before spinning around and then putting her shaft down in a diagonal manner in order to try to catch his practice sword. It worked, as her shaft caught it and she was able to pin him. It was only temporary, though, for Daeron crouched down while he brought his back leg into a circle that swiped under Rhaenys. Falling to the ground, Rhaenys rolled away from Daeron's attacks and the strikes from his practice sword before getting herself back up in time to parry Daeron's wooden sword.
Both were then locked in a match of strength, as his sword and her shaft were trying to push against the other while both groaned, their teeth bared and their eyes as wide as they could be. However, Rhaenys learned how to get herself out of this sort of match, which she applied by using her shaft to keep his sword from touching her while using the length of it to slide it downwards and push it against his exposed stomach. That made Daeron lose his balance and caused him to fall backwards. He was like Rhaenys in that he just as quickly got himself back up, using his legs to spin and then stand.
Rhaenys moved her shaft towards her brother's neck, using what he did by exploiting his distraction. However, her momentary triumph disappeared when she felt Daeron's wooden sword also touch her neck.
While the match only lasted no more than a minute, there was a lot of power, agility, and aggressiveness displayed between the both of them. At the same time, Rhaenys was relieved that her brother was not inexperienced, as it clearly showed from how he did not hesitate and treated the match as if it was a real fight. Just like me.
Rhaenys and Daeron stepped back from each other, with her brother bowing his head to her. "When a match ends well, I was taught to bow to show respect."
Rhaenys obliged him. "Indeed, it went well," she told him. She got what she wanted from the spar and while Daeron's fighting style did not resemble their father's, it still had the core principles that made Rhaenys sure that he was truly their father's son. If only father was more like Daeron at the Trident, she thought with sadness, which was easily drowned out by the relief that was now flooding through her.
Arya, Namhee, and the others who came with her after being released from the Jade Order practiced their shooting with their firearms after they went their usual physical conditioning in the morning. Consisting of a dancing to a fast rhythm, which was not as easy as one would expect, challenging their arms and legs, and then running through the pyramid of Meereen, the women who came from the Jade Order then moved onto practicing their firearms training. Gong-Er guided them while Mingyu watched over them all in her place, being her eyes.
As usual, Namhee performed the best out of all of them, using a long tanegashima and hitting her target. She sat on her bottom while the firearm was rested on a wooden block, allowing her an easier time to aim her weapon. However, she was just as capable of hitting her mark without that setup.
Seonjoo was the second-best shot in the group. She preferred to write poetry and play music, but she was just as deadly with weapons. However, she was better at releasing arrows from horseback, something that she picked up from while she was attached to the armies in the northern provinces. All of the Jade Order had to rotate between the provincial armies in order to widen their experiences and combat skills. Seonjoo contrasted with Namhee in that she was a little more wild, but both were close to each other since they complemented one another in shooting and in long-distance combat.
Renxi was the third-best shot in the group, but that was only because she preferred to use a tanegashima that she could hold with one hand. She was best among the group when it came to knives and throwing weapons, and she was not above cheating in matches so that she could win. While she looked kind on the outside, it was always as if something snapped inside of her whenever she was fighting, with her wide eyes and baring teeth while she would land blows with such fury. Arya was honestly very much surprised when she saw how she fought, made all the more confusing when she spent a lot of time in meditation. It was only after she got to know her that she found out that Renxi's father beat her repeatedly simply because she looked more like him than her mother, which somehow played into how she became so unrestrained whenever she fought. Even thousands of miles away from home, I still cannot understand many people.
Wendi was not a bad shot, but she preferred to load her firearm with scatter shot rather than a single iron ball. She was the same as Namhee and Seonjoo in that they came from merchants who paid for nobility status, but she was the most traveled of the three and was thus the most knowledgeable when it came to assassins. Arya was surprised when she said that she met someone from the Faceless Men before, and she said that she was fortunate they were not after the same thing or she would have been killed, as it was before she joined the Jade Order. What she brought was a certain canny in detecting poisons and thinking like an assassin, obsessing over books and interrogating failed killers. She knows more about how death can come than I can ever hope to learn in many lifetimes.
Masaku was the best swordsman of them all. Unlike the others in the group, she hailed from a rather old and distinguished family that produced many generals and admirals for the Golden Empire. She was eager to live by the example of her older brothers as they followed the family tradition, but their traditionally-minded father instead thought it fitting that she marry into another army family. Fortunately for her, Khiara was visiting through their province and she caught Masaku training secretly with the sword. The father only relented to her joining the Jade Order after Khiara bribed him with a promotion to field marshal and made him inspector-general of the army, becoming the first in the family to achieve that rank. After Gong-Er instructed her, watching Masaku swing her blade was more elegant than anything than Arya had seen. At the same time, she was not to be trifled since she had over thirty kills to her name, all of them expert assassins. But now, she was trying to practice using a firearm since she would not always be accorded the luxury of fighting her enemies up close.
As for Arya herself, she could not say that she was an expert in anything, as she wanted to know how to fight with everything she could and incorporate all sorts of fighting styles. She could shoot, she could use a sword, use a bow, and ride a horse. She also began to learn how to detect poisons and get into the mind of an assassin thanks to Wendi. As she lived her early years with restraint, she was going to learn whatever she learned about combat.
Despite coming from different backgrounds, Arya found that they all fit in well together, which was something that she could not describe in words and she had to actually see how they would work. After being put in the same dancing group and despite the rest of them being hesitant to deal with a "white devil," they found a lot in common with each other and they moved… seamlessly when they went about their dance routine. It was not something that would happen with anyone and it was one of the reasons why Arya was thankful that they came with her, for she could not find anyone else who could fit in so well with her. Even Sansa would not be able to fit in well with us, even though she is more of the dancer than I am.
"That was a pretty good shot there," Robb commended Arya as she was reloading, causing her to turn around and give her brother a smile. "You have been busy."
"And so have you."
"Hey, white devil," Wendi said to him while speaking the common tongue with a heavy accent. "I do not care if you are Arya's brother or not. You have to ask permission before you interrupt our practice."
Robb looked struck. "I have to ask permission to see my sister?"
Arya turned to Wendi and spoke to her in guanhua. "It is all right, Wendi. He is fine."
Robb looked at his sister, the surprise increasing. "So not only can you fight, you can speak other tongues."
"There are many things that I have learned while in Yi-Ti, but I do not know if you have the time to listen right now," Arya said to him in guanhua. As expected, he did not understand a word of it and she had to translate what she said to him.
"We have all of the time in the world, Arya. Do not be in a hurry."
Arya grinned in response. "Yes, we do. But anyways, why did you come here? I was in the middle of reloading."
Robb took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Well… I asked the Yi-Tish man called Minoru Lim and he told me what you used to do in the Land of a Thousand Cities. I am about to discuss some defensive topics with the captains of the sellsword companies who came with me and perhaps you will have something to contribute?"
By this point, Namhee and the others were listening closely, while Mingyu translated for them. As for Arya, she was going to jump at the chance of practicing what she learned regarding strategy.
"I would love to, but only if they can come and say their piece," Arya responded before she gestured to her friends.
Robb exhaled before nodding his assent and they, along with the captains of the Company of the Rose and the Wolf Pack, walked around the defensive perimeter of Meereen.
Arya looked upon her brother more closely. The confident and proud boy that she grew up with was no longer there, his eyes betraying all of the hurt and the pain that he endured and witnessed ever since their father died. If anything, Arya swore that she was almost looking at their father, as Robb was more brooding and he approached conversations with seriousness and terseness. And remembering what he had to go through from when the northern lords made him king and then having to escape the Red Wedding… it made her all the more thankful that he was still alive, him and Grey Wind. Perhaps I will see him smile again.
"We are planning to maintain a flexible defense," Robb told her. "While the numbers and the dragons have considerably improved our defensive position, we are still outnumbered and we can still lose it all if we are not careful enough. That means that if we are overwhelmed at one point, we will simply withdraw and allow them to enter before we surround them with reinforcements and crush them."
"That could work, but only if you intend on fighting them for a long time," Arya said. "But we need to defeat and overwhelm them as quickly as possible. Perhaps we should consider going on the offensive."
"With the men that we have? That might not be a good approach," Robb stated.
"Not unless we decide to be devious," Arya pointed out. "Who says that we have to fight them in a large battle? Why not sabotage them before they are able to fight back against us?"
"Explain," Robb was interested.
"How about we send a small group, or several small groups, enter the enemy camp wherever they set it up, and wreak havoc on it?" Arya was quick to suggest. "We might not be able to kill whoever is in command in one try, but if we keep them on their toes and then always on the defensive, then we will have a chance."
"And you would know how to do this?" Robb asked.
Arya pointed to Mingyu, who was walking closely behind them while guiding Gong-Er. "She knows how to do that. She was an assassin back in the Golden Empire."
Robb blinked in surprise, and then gulped. "And… does Uncle Benjen know about that?"
Arya gave him a slightly annoyed look. "He would not have bedded her if he was not aware of what she did in her past."
That was not entirely a lie, but she figured that it was better to slowly reveal to Robb how their uncle ended up with a Yi-Tish woman on his arm.
"All right, fair lady," Robb accepted while giving his attention to Mingyu. "Would Arya's suggestion work in battle?"
"It has been done before, Lord Robb," Mingyu answered. "Sometimes, raids like that can succeed in killing the leadership of the opposing forces. Sometimes, it does not. However, if you achieve the objective of slowly wearing down your opponent to the point where they have to spend all of their available energies protecting themselves rather than fighting you, they will eventually break and scatter like insects."
"And you have done this?" Robb asked pointedly.
Mingyu nodded slowly. "Many times. Although I mostly did it to small groups instead of large armies, but the same principles apply."
Robb bobbed his head. "I see."
A horn blew in the air. All of them looked at the one who blew it, who was pointing his finger to the westward. Robb got out his Myrish eye while Arya and the group narrowed their eyes. All of them were stunned when they saw a massive fleet with Volantene banners approaching them.
"Looks like we are going to have to wear them down sooner than later, I see," Robb noted before turning to Arya and the group. "If you have any suggestions, please say them now."
Arya and Mingyu glanced with each other before sharing a smile. "Oh, I am sure you will like what we come up with."
Kaijin made plans for a grand landing at Astapor once the scout ships returned and after they effectively cut all off entry and exit from the Slaver's Bay thanks to the Isle of Cedars. Still, that left much sea and land to cover, which more than seventy thousand troops and hundreds of ships could cover. He thought that he would have to open up the campaign to take Astapor with a bombardment, softening up the enemy's defenses while the marines, the sailors who would support them, and the rest of the Jade Company would land and fight to take the city. It would be their first real test on land and nothing could push the boundaries of ground troops than a direct assault on a major city like Astapor.
But to his confusion, the scout ships told Kaijin that even after five days of watching the city, they only found a minimal garrison there, estimated to be only three thousand strong and that was not enough to effectively man Astapor's defenses. When he asked if they found some sign of the enemy's presence either to the north or west of the city, the scout captains told him that they could find none. Deciding to take a chance, he got all of the forces that he could spare and they converged on Astapor. Landing the Jade Company's cavalry, supported by the Jogos Nhai volunteers, in the north of the city to watch and block the northern approaches, he had the marines, the infantry, and the firearms units climb into rowboats while the ships opened fire with their cannon. As he looked through his spyglass, Kaijin could see that the enemy garrison was indeed minimal and they were running in a panic. The first of the landing troops stormed into Astapor, the gates not locked, and they forced their way into the city. Within an hour, the banners of the Jade Company flew over Astapor while a horn blew to signal that the city had been secured.
Kaijin landed onto Astapor's docks and walked through the city. Besides the prisoners that were taken, he found the majority of the city's population enslaved, no doubt taken back into bondage after Daenerys' loyalists had to concentrate their forces at Meereen. Although he himself found slavery detestable, he could not just free them without getting more guidelines on what to do. If I just take off their chains, I will be responsible for feeding them, protecting them, and making them productive, all of which I do not have the men or the resources for.
After sending a message to Meereen, Kaijin was surprised when Daenerys arrived on the back of her dragon. At once, all of the people who were enslaved bowed at the sight of the one who liberated them, which Kaijin had to admit was quite something to see. Almost as comparable as to when father and then Khiara would enjoy.
"Prince Kaijin, I thought our position was clear. We are to free everyone who has been returned to slavery," Daenerys told him.
"I understand that, Your Majesty, but I need more guidance and how to do it. After all, the number of people in chains in front of me far outnumber the men that I have now. I don't have the food or the manpower needed to keep them from getting out of control," Kaijin explained.
"See if you can spare some rations from the ships. And I am sure that the garrison here had supplies, so feed them that," Daenerys commanded.
"But of course," Kaijin complied hesitantly.
"Is something on your mind, Prince Kaijin?" Daenerys asked.
Kaijin clicked his tongue before he looked at the eyes of the ones who were still in chains. "I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty, but even without chains, I believe in utilizing any man that I see before me for a purpose. If I am going to feed them, they have to contribute."
"Contribute how?" Daenerys crossed her arms.
"Well… looking at how many healthy-bodied men that I see before me, I can pick the strongest and teach them how to fight, thereby increasing the number of soldiers under our command," Kaijin began with. "The older and the younger ones can help us by building or running supplies for us, thereby reducing the burdens on the men who do know how to fight. As for the women and girls, they can help by cooking food, fixing our weapons, and making more iron balls from whatever metals we could find."
Daenerys glanced at the people she freed before the slavers returned. "Look at them. Imagine what kind of horrors they went through after supporting me. I do not know if my heart will be at ease in putting them to work after regaining their freedom."
"All right, they regained their freedom. And now, let us make them productive, Your Majesty," Kaijin suggested. "There is nothing more dangerous than a bunch of people who are serving no purpose and are walking around aimlessly. That will give them too much to think, and too much thinking can lead to a lot of counterproductive thoughts."
Daenerys raised her eyebrows at Kaijin. "Is that you view people? You judge their worth by how productive they are?"
"Would you rather that I see people based on what stations they originated from?" Kaijin asked pointedly. "All right, they are slaves and they deserve understanding. But now, they must work to keep their freedom. It is the only way to keep us from getting bogged down by people and having our supply lines being strained."
Daenerys exhaled heavily. "I cannot say that I am against your thinking, even though I do have personal reservations. But at least you agree that the chains around these people must be taken off."
Kaijin nodded. "Whatever moral thoughts that I have about slavery can be discussed later. Right now, my job is to ensure that Astapor is secure from another enemy attack and we have to also ascertain where the enemy is going next. While we both know that their ultimate target is Meereen, we have to know how they will get there first."
"I can answer that." Daenerys then got out a piece of paper, on which Kaijin could see a scribble of what appeared to be a large enemy force around another port city. "There are already marshalling at Yunkai."
"That quickly?" Kaijin might have believed that they were able to move more than seventy thousand men from Astapor to Yunkai if the commanders really pushed their troops, but it would have taken much effort on their part.
"They will be desperate. Once they get word that Astapor has fallen, they will respond by either sending their Volantene ships to sail against you, continue the march towards Meereen, or both. Either way, we cannot allow them to rest and feel easy."
Kaijin nodded, impressed at Daenerys' thinking despite never having commanded troops in combat. "But they will have already made a head start. We will not be able to catch them if we march on land. Unless-" That was when he had an idea. He shouted for his adjutant to get maps of the Slaver's Bay, which was spread out over the table they were able to find for the both of them. "You are right, Your Majesty, in that we cannot allow them to feel easy and rest. But if we march from Astapor to Yunkai, they will be able to plan and anticipate, allowing them to protect their southern approaches," he said while pointing his finger on the space between Astapor and Yunkai. "So perhaps… we go for this island."
"Yaros?" Daenerys asked.
"I hear that it is a very flat island which also happens to be close to Yunkai. It will allow the troops a closer marshalling area from which to attack Yunkai from the south while also being able to save time. Once Yaros is secured, we will be able to strike at Yunkai and also begin to harass their ships."
"Do you not think that the enemy will also know this?" Daenerys asked.
"If what the messages say are true, then the enemy will devote most of their ships to enclose Meereen, tighten the noose around your center of power so to speak," Kaijin stated. "And keeping a sizable number of their ships off of the shores of Yaros while they have to quickly attack Meereen will not make much sense to them because they have to go all in or get nothing. Securing Yaros will allow us to move onto Yunkai while also saving transportation time."
"I understand," Daenerys said as she nodded. "But should you encounter any of the tigers' ships, I and Daeron will respond in kind."
"I appreciate that, but that will not be necessary. Just like we crushed their ships at New Ghis, we can sink them all if they are foolish enough to fight us at Yaros."
Kaijin spent the next few days organizing the recently freed men and women into groups, with Daenerys interpreting for him and the other captains. Once he did a headcount, there were about six thousand men who were healthy and in perfect condition. Kaijin had them armed and had his captains begin to train them on how to fight like soldiers, teaching them to march and obey orders. The latter was easy to do, but making recently freed men into soldiers was something that Kaijin realized that he would need more time, which he did not have. Still, he was not going to just let them stand and sit idly in the city, so he made the decision to have them board the ships so that they will see combat as soon as possible.
For the women, the old, and the children, Kaijin had them organized into groups such as the cooks, the sewers, and the armaments handlers. Getting all of the spare metal throughout Astapor, including their chains, he had it all melted down so that they could be made into cannonballs and balls for the firearms. While some of his men did the actual melting, the other former slaves were given the task of supplying the iron balls.
For the prisoners, Kaijin questioned the leaders on whatever information he could gain from them regarding the enemy's numbers and the morale of the armies. Once he got what he could, Kaijin had them paraded through the streets, where the recently freed slaves spat and beat them in retribution. They were given the task of burying their dead and some others were made to clean the streets of all refuse before burning them. It was a common practice for soldiers in Yi-Ti to burn refuse as punishment, the point of it being to wear them down and make them less rebellious. They certainly will not have those thoughts, not with the recently freed watching them.
After Daenerys flew back to Meereen, Kaijin gathered half of the able-bodied men that he pressed into service as soldiers and had most of his troops go back on the ships to sail to Yaros, leaving behind a sizable garrison to maintain law and order. Once they arrived at the island, he oversaw the landing of the marines and the sailors who were gathered from the crews who could be spared to fight in ground combat. Surprisingly, they found no resistance as they landed onto the shores of the island of Yaros, where they had expected to find a heavy enemy presence on the one piece of land so close and yet far enough from Yunkai. Either they have a larger game at play, or they are not as strategically competent as I thought them to be, he thought.
Whatever was going on, Kaijin had much to work to do. He had to leave behind the cavalry back at Yunkai, whose purpose was to reinforce the garrison and then gallop northwards in an effort to distract their enemy from what was going on at Yaros. I am leaving awfully a lot to chance. This better work.
A/N: We go back to Bran, and who knows what the Mormonts are doing there.
Rhaenys is finally satisfied, so that is squared away.
Arya is finally reconnecting with Robb while we get more details about her friends.
Kaijin is really doing a good job and showing his worth.
